Oh Wil, your reaction is the best!! I hope you sucked all the joy you could out of the night. And Anne is awesome. You have some big shoes to fill on her next birthday. ;-)

I'm sorry, Wil. But, I love Colin more than you. And now I have to apologize to Colin because I love Anne more than him. Her going Hulk on the table at the end made an already great episode even greater. You are so lucky to have an amazing wife but fabulous people who will come and play with you and let the internets watch.

Wil, I can't help but I might be able to make you feel (sorta) better. My parents will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this July. My Dad has long given up on his dream to have a wife who enjoys the nerdy things he does. Now, one of his favorite bands of all time is the Moody Blues. My Mom is more the John Tesh, Yanni sort of girl. So Dad, naturally, assumed that she hated the Moody Blues (and he was right)... then one day, shortly after their 25th wedding anniversary, she drops a bomb on the house. "You know, I think I'd like to go see the Moody Blues when they come to town this summer." After we picked my Dad up off the floor, he ran out and bought tickets. I guess the point of this little story is that it may take time but you will eventually lure Anne to our nerdly dark side. It'll be like the tectonic plates shifting, slow and steady and then one day BAM! she'll surprise you with something completely nerdy.

My absolute favorite moment of the episode was when Carter looks at Parrish holding his fingers thisfar apart in the international "Use small words!!" symbol... the look of absolute frustration on his face was awesome. And Parrish was a complete dick. I'm glad it was a Parrish-heavy episode, he is the perfect foil to the sweetness of Holly.

I'll x2 what beth9133 says. I hope this is random thoughts rather than an externally inspired thought. I've always thought that taking the cynical, critical, mean-spirited tack was the easy way. It is much harder to be positive, respectful and kind since there's always some asshole around the corner.

My furry alarm clock is an indoor kitty who has decided that whenever my night-owl neighbors come home from their job at the bar is the time for breakfast. Whether that be 2am, 3am, or 20 minutes before my alarm is set to go off. I totally feel your pain. Although, at least it was the "I wanna go out!" noise and not the "I'm trying to hork a hairball the size of Nebraska on your shoes!" noise.

I post this on Facebook (and email to friends) every year... Best Christmas song ever. :-) Hope you and your family had a lovely Christmas!

"What are you doing, Wil?"

What a lovely post, Wil. I've been thinking about this ever since a friend posted something about being anti-"Happy Holidays" but the followed that post with something about trying to find the perfect holiday meal. I couldn't help thinking that she was missing the point. As your post shows, it isn't the words you say it is how you celebrate that matters. As long as you are surrounded by loved ones it doesn't matter what you spent, what you bought, or what you ate... as long as you were together. Merry Christmas to you and yours. (I'm spending the day at my Sister's then coming home to 2 MST3k Christmas specials. A full, glorious day)